A fishing survival kit should be small and compact enough to easily fit in a backpack, glove box, bug out bag or a survival bag. Although large enough to store enough fishing essential gear that will allow you to catch fish during emergency situations.

Today we will look at how you can setup your own fishing survival kit very cheaply and easily. The fishing components are few and easily obtained from your local tackle shop or bought online. If your a beginner to intermediate I will show you two easy fishing knots that you will learn in minutes. We will also discuss some tips and tricks to improve your chances to catching a feed.

Our diy mini survival kit will contain generic items to be used in many, if not all situations. As long as you have access to water, be it a river, creek, dam, estuary, pier, rocks, sea or anything in between you will have enough items in your fishing survival kit to attempt to catch a feed. This article will not specialize in any particular type of fishing but an all rounder with basic items to arm you with enough gear and knowledge to be successful.

Putting together the mini fishing survival kit

To begin, we will need a small tackle box or any small plastic container preferably more flat than squarish, this will make it easier to store. Down below I will provide a photo of one of several mini fishing kit which I keep in the in my bug out bag. If your concerned about water or moisture getting into the container you can buy a waterproof metal tin.

Fishing line

The most important item you require will be a good quality line. What I prefer to use is one that is not too thick as we wont be catching marlin. Our target fish will be small to medium native fish so we need a line that is flexible yet sturdy and rugged enough to withstand snags, rocks submerged branches and the like. In short a 10lb good quality line is ideal for our mini kit.

Our other consideration is to find or make something to carry and store the line in our container. Such as the below which took me minutes to make. Just wind the line via the notches, easy as pie.

Hooks

The next most important item you will need are hooks. So having a good amount and variety is paramount to success. I prefer the long shanked hooks as they can prevent getting cut lines. Purchasing stainless steel hooks are ideal, they resist salt water fairly well and last a long time.

Float

The next item we need is a float. this comes in handy when fishing in areas where there are many snags in the water. This is common with many rivers and lakes so having a float can be beneficial. One advantage in using floats is you can use the drift of the water to fish a larger area. We are limited for space so having a small float is a better option in this case.

Sinkers

Sinkers is another important item but not essential, we mainly require sinkers to keep the bait down and we only require a small one to do this job effectively.

Lures

Having a good selection of lures is also a good idea, we obviously have the constraint of space so we should choose something smallish but effective.

The celta lure is my favorite for freshwater fishing. I’ve had many successes with them over the years.

Swivels

Swivels are not paramount to store in our fishing survival kit as we want to keep the items at a minimum. The good news is they are generally very small so having a couple is not a show stopper. Keeping a half a dozen size 10 swivels would not take up much space so having a few on hand can be helpful but not essential if you have space constraints.

Fishing scissors

This is another handy item that I always carry. It doesn’t take a lot of space and can save you from chipped teeth, which is how I once cut fishing line.

Two fishing knots is all you need

Locked Clinch Knot

If you would like a knot to tie hooks, floats, swivels, sinkers and just about anything really then you will love this knot. You can learn this in minutes and with a some practice will stay with you forever.

The image on the left clearly shows how this knot is made. As you can see it’s basically a 3 step process. Get yourself a hook and some line and practice this until you get it down pat.

The second knot is a little more complicated but not earth shattering. This knot is called a dropper loop and can be used to add extra hooks or lures to your rig. Being a strong and sturdy knot it’s rarely let me down. These two knots will get you through most if not all fishing situations.

Bait

Fresh bait is the best but that’s not say you wont have equal success with lures. As mentioned I’ve had many successes with celta lures and it’s my first option when fishing freshwater. If on occasion you find you have lost your lures then the best freshwater bait is worms, bugs, grasshoppers. They are plentiful and fairly easy to collect by scrounging around your immediate environment. If near saltwater finding a nearby rock pool will present you with crabs, worms, mussels, barnacles and small fish. I may create another post about how to collect fresh bait in fresh and salt water environments.

Final thoughts

I hope you’ve taken some great insights and learnings into putting together your own emergency fishing kit. If your not an avid angler this post should have given you enough knowledge from tying knots to gathering bait to get you started. It obviously isn’t a comprehensive fishing guide, there’s better websites that can teach you those skills. I would encourage you to put kit items together yourself but if you would like to buy a ready made survival fishing kit I have a recommendation for you down below which I purchased for someone a while back.

If you fell compelled or don’t have the inclination to make your own fishing kit this is my best Amazon fishing survival kit. For around $16 (at time of writing) you will get all the basic gear you need. The tin box is water and moisture resistant and enough gear to catch fish. They do have a standard version but I don’t it’s necessary for a fishing survival kit.

If your not an avid angler and you need to buy the items listed above separately it could get pricey. if your strapped for time it may be a better option to buy a ready made kit.

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